Carroll says Red Bryant catching on at DE

Defensive lineman Red Bryant, now heading into his third year, continues to see time at defensive end, and according to Carrol showed improvement over the three-day camp. Bryant did block a pass from the defensive end position today during a team scrimmage, and continues to split time at defensive end and defensive tackle. Carroll said defensive line coach Dan Quinn came up with the idea of playing Bryant outside.

“Obviously it gives us a big guy playing over there,” Carroll said. “And with what we’re trying to do in the run game, he made a good showing. Now, it’s going to take all the way until we get to camp in pads and all that kind of stuff to get a good assessment. But this is, I would think, by far the best condition he’s been in, in years. He’s worked diligently in the offseason program. He’s feet our quick and he’s still a big man.”

Playing Bryant outside gives Seattle the versatility of playing more of a 3-4 look at times, with Aaron Curry coming down and being that fifth player off the edge of the defense, so Bryant isn’t responsible for getting to the perimeter of the defense as a traditional defensive end would be.

“With what the coach is trying to get done with the 5-technique right there, it’s basically the same technique as the nose tackle,” Bryant said. “He’s going to be a guy who tries to set a point at the line of scrimmage. He’s going to be a guy who really takes on more of the right tackles, the maulers. So it’s really not that big of a transition, besides the space. And we’re going to have a guy on the outside to help with that.”

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Bryant said his father-in-law, legendary Seahawks' defensive end Jacob Green, constantly reminds him that his red-shirt years are over, and that he needs to step up.

“I talk to him all the time,” Braynt said about Green. “He’s extremely tough on me. He tells me all the time in year three, they kind of get an idea if you’re going to be a player or not. And so he’s brutally honest with me. And that’s what you need, especially in this business. You need somebody to be honest with you. And he’s always going to be there for that.”

Bryant said he hasn’t told Green that he’s been playing some defensive end, and understands he will continue to get some ribbing about his weight from his father-in-law, who would like to see Bryant around 290-300 pounds, instead of 320.

Linebacker Leroy Hill has missed his second minicamp since being arrested for an alleged domestic disturbance three weeks ago at his Issaquah home. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said nothing has changed in terms of Hill’s status with the league.

“The situation hasn’t changed at all,” Carroll said. “As far as I know nothing has taken place yet, so we’re going to continue to let him take care of his business until we know more,” Carroll said.

Carroll went on to say that the team has told Hill to continue and stay away from the facility and handle his personal matters.

“We don’t need the distraction right now, and he needs to focus on getting his business taken care of,” Carroll said.

Carroll had more kind words for Mike Williams. With T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Deion Branch and Ben Obomanu out, Williams was running with the first unit this weekend.

“To see Mike come out here and be effective again in the second camp, that’s a really good sign for him,” Carroll said. “He’s definitely in a place where he’s really competitive. Physically, it’s the best I’ve seen him since maybe his sophomore year of college. So he’s very serious about it, so maybe he has a chance to give us some help.”

Carroll also said the other Williams in camp, UW product Reggie Williams, has had is moments as well, and that both will continue to compete throughout the offseason and likely up until training camp starts at the end of July.

“Reggie’s done better,” Carroll said. “He’s getting in better shape from where he was on the first camp. He’s continued to progress also. It’s going to be a long haul for those guys. Those guys are working their way back, and it’s going to be an assessment that you make over a long period of time.”

Another UW product that continues to see time is Joe Toledo. The former Huskies’ tight end has been working with the second unit at right tackle. And with Seattle’s lack of depth at the tackle position, Toledo, a tryout player, remains an option to continue on in the team’s offseaosn program.

“We’re not finding a lot of candidates out there in the free agent area, so Joe has a chance,” Carroll said. “We’ve stuck him in there with the 2s quite a bit. Joe’s played around a little, played all the spots up front, which is good. He’s got some versatility to him. But we’re going to give him a really good look.”

The Seahawks are scheduled to have OTAs on May 11 and May 13, and the next minicamp is June 22-24.

About the Seahawks Insider Blog

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.